Don’t be tempted to offer your skills or services for free, despite how bad the job market is.
Ground down, ghosted, depressed. I understand.
But as tempting as it may be, don’t offer your skills or services for free. At least not to a commercial company.
‘Perhaps if I just do a few days work, maybe deliver a good report, build some rapport, then they’ll hire me.’
It makes sense psychologically, give yourself another way in when all other job hunting avenues are broken.
But unfortunately, it almost certainly won’t work. Then you’ll have invested energy, lost time, and feel embittered.
The few times I’ve actually done this, I found the client didn’t take a pro-bono consultant seriously. Meetings got cancelled, staff didn’t turn up, recommendations fell flat.
You see, the decision to not hire you isn’t because the company is unsure. They aren’t sitting on the fence waiting for a freebie.
Rather, they don’t have budget, they don’t have commitment, they don’t understand their needs, they procure through preferred supplier lists. Or they simply don’t want to.
Either way, don’t be tempted to offer your skills or services for free.
Instead, do some volunteering, contribute to OSS, put your IT skills to use in a charitable cause you believe in. I think you’d feel better spending your time like this.
What do you think?